


oh by gosh by golly

by thecrackshiplollipop



Series: 12 Days of Julyberry [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: Christmas Decorations, F/F, Holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2014-12-13
Packaged: 2018-03-01 10:35:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2769899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecrackshiplollipop/pseuds/thecrackshiplollipop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>so this is PROBABLY what would happen if Rachel and Cassie ended up having to decorate together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	oh by gosh by golly

**Author's Note:**

> because it's the holidays and because i really love the idea of setting up cassie in trope-like situations**.
> 
> so, happy holidays to all those julyberry shippers still out there. and a very special happy holidays to natasha, because this is mostly for you.
> 
> (**and no, i have not forgotten that rachel is jewish, trust me)

The banner stretched across the main NYADA lobby says ‘Happy Holidays’ in shimmering gold calligraphy. Beneath the banner is a towering Christmas tree covered in sparkling lights and crystal ornaments that catch the light and send it in sparkling shards around the room.

“Dazzling,” Kurt says dryly.

“Hmph,” Rachel grumbles, hands on hips as she takes in the enormous silver menorah decorated with wax-looking electric candles. “How are we going to top this?”

“Rachel, we’re spending this afternoon decorating to get some extra credit and to take our minds off of finals, the critique, and the fact that you _somehow got another invitation to the showcase-_ ” Kurt takes a deep breath and makes a shooing motion with his hands. “It’s not another competition.”

“Right,” Rachel rubs her forehead, “you’re totally right. Let’s take it down a notch. To the dining hall?” Kurt just nods and waves for Rachel to lead the way.

* * *

They’d already been assigned to decorate the dining hall by the head of the decorator’s committee - some jerky dance major who dated Brody, too. The hall is the biggest space to get a holiday-themed makeover, which is why Rachel thinks someone made a huge mistake in only assigning six people to decorate the room.

“How the _hell_ are we supposed to decorate this?” Chelsea says like she’s reading Rachel’s mind. She’s a senior Rachel remembers from the last Midnight Madness, and she looks like she’s only here for the extra credit.

“I’ve got some senior dancers bringing the tall ladders from storage. There will be a floral delivery before dinner some time so we’ll need to be done before then so they can hang the mistletoe.” The TA in charge says, checking his clipboard with a list of to-dos. He’s skinny and looks slightly overwhelmed.

“That seems unethical, or something.” It’s one of the other students, some short stocky guy Rachel doesn’t recognise.

“Don't care,” the TA sighs and turns to the boxes stacked up next to the entrance. “Each box is labeled with what’s inside and where they’re supposed to go. I’m not actually in charge, thank _god_ , so whoever drew the short straw will be by in a little while. I’m just gonna sit here,” he motions to one of the dining tables closest to the doors, “and you guys can pick assignments from the clipboard.”

“Oh great,” Kurt mumbles, taking a plastic box labeled ‘lights’ from the pile. “This is going to be so much fun.”

“Have a little faith,” Rachel trills, grabbing a box marked ‘holly garlands’ with a flourish. “Maybe we can burst out into song.”

“No singing!” The TA warbles, slamming the clipboard down for emphasis. “No.Singing.”

“Oh _fine_ , spoil the fun,” Rachel pouts, earning a laugh from both Kurt and Chelsea.

* * *

Rachel’s almost done stringing holly garlands across the tall windows overlooking the courtyard when their supervisor shows up. Rachel is only dimly aware of someone shouting at Chelsea and the tap dance kid because she’s so focused with keeping her balance on the scary-tall ladders. It’s only when she feels the ladder wobble a little that she looks down and sees that Kurt is no longer holding it steady. Instead, Rachel sees Cassandra July looking up at her with a smirk on her face that makes Rachel wish she hadn’t worn such a short skirt. She grips the ladder rung tighter with her left hand as the room tilts a little.

“A little to the right and it’s good, Schwim. Hurry up, I need help with the lights for the tree.”

“Uh,” Rachel blinks and turns back to fix the garland’s position. “There?”

“Yup, c’mon.”

Rachel climbs down slowly, feeling the whole time like her knees are about to give out. When she’s finally back on solid ground she turns to Cassie, who is now standing back with her hands on her hips like she does in class.

“ _You’re_ our supervisor?” Rachel asks, feeling dumb.

“I drew the short straw. Literally,” Cassie shrugs, eyes flickering over Rachel before meeting her gaze. “But I guess there are worse ways to spend a Tuesday afternoon.” Rachel blushes and looks around the room for Kurt. Like he could even help. “Now, the tree is up. But we have to decorate it. I assume you can handle more ladder work.”

“Uh huh,” Rachel says with a nod, but Cassie is already walking across the hall with a purpose. Rachel searches around the dining hall for Kurt again, but she finds him busily entangled with gold tinsel garlands and a grimace on his face. Rachel huffs, steels herself, and speeds up so she’s walking alongside Cassie.

* * *

“It’s 2014, you would think they’d have a machine for this.” Cassie grunts, trying to loosen her strand of lights from two twisted tree branches.

“Like in _The Grinch_.” Rachel says from her side of the tree.

“Yeah, sure,” Cassie rolls her eyes, “how does it look over there?”

“Like we need more lights.”

Cassie huffs and unwinds another strand of lights from the tub nearby. She stands up to attach the new strand to the old and practically jumps out of her skin because Rachel is right there, grinning with a golden tinsel garland wrapped around her like a scarf.

“Jesus Christ, Schwimmer. Are you trying to kill me?”

“Oh c’mon. Here.” Rachel closes the distance between them and drapes a silver garland that she’d been hiding behind her back over Cassie’s shoulders, tossing one end so it wraps around like a scarf. “Much better,” she says, laughing at the stunned look on Cassie’s face.

It dawns on Rachel about two seconds later that this is _Miss July_ she’s lassoed with a garland of tinsel and the woman is like, an inch away from her and she should probably be running for her life. Instead she’s rooted there, cheeks aflame and heart thudding in her chest like it’s punishing her for being an idiot.

“Um,” she says after a beat, biting her lip. “Sorry. Sometimes I get all worked up. Like a kid with candy, I guess.”  She steps back and grabs the plug from Cassie’s hand. “More lights, right?”

“Yeah,” Cassie draws out the word, still stunned by the whole thing. She feels like she should make a joke or be mean, but instead she just decides to focus intently on the whole light situation on the tree.

She doesn’t, however, take the garland off, figuring she’ll use it on the tree eventually.

* * *

“Do you even like Christmas?” Rachel asks, carefully plucking a delicate ornament from its box and bringing it over to Cassie who’s up on the ladder next to the tree.

“Eh,” Cassie shrugs, taking the ornament from Rachel’s hands, “it’s fine. No school, go back and visit the family.” She places the ornament on the tree and leans back to examine her work. “I don’t believe in the whole Jesus thing, though.”

“Neither do I,” Rachel says pointedly, reaching down for the last ornament.

“Right. Hanukkah. Doesn’t that start soon?” Cassie moves back down the ladder and reaches out for another ornament.

“Next week,” Rachel says excitedly, placing the ornament into Cassie’s hands. “That’s the last one, by the way. So make it count.”

“Sure thing, Schwim.”

Rachel frowns at Cassie’s back but watches her climb the ladder and place a north star ornament in an empty spot in the top third of the tree.

“Perfect!” Rachel claps as Cassie looks down at Rachel with a scowl that makes Rachel laugh. “What? It is!”

“Why are you so full of Christmas spirit. You’re Jewish, as we just discussed.”

“There’s also something called _holiday cheer_ , Cassie.” Rachel motions at herself, “I’m full of it.”

“You're full of it, alright,” Cassie mutters, climbing back down the ladder. Once on the ground ground she takes a few steps away from the tree get a good look at it.

“You’re still wearing the tinsel,” Rachel laughs from behind her, pulling the garland from Cassie’s shoulders. "It's a nice touch, but I think it can go on the tree now.”

Cassie just clicks her tongue and turns back to the tree. “Over there, then.” She motions to a somewhat bare part of the tree and Rachel obliges, coming back to stand behind Cassie and gaze up at the tree.

“Oh, it’s amazing.”

Cassie shrugs, taking in all of the glittering ornaments and the sparkly lights. Really, Rachel’s right, it _is_ impressive. It makes the whole room feel warm and inviting, kind of like-

“It’s almost like being at home.”

Cassie nods in agreement but then frowns, “aren’t you-”

“Oh, I don’t mean _literally_. but it makes it feel less like you’re at school, you know? The giant menorah is cool, but it's not very homey. But this, I don't know. It makes you feel like you’re somewhere nice and warm and happy and you’re not stressed out about finals or grades.”

“Ugh,” Cassie waves her hand in front of her face. “Sentiment.”

“Oh please,” Rachel sighs, grabbing Cassie’s shoulders and leaning close to the other woman’s back. “Just take the compliment, Cassie. It’s nice.” Her voice is soft and sweet and Cassie’s heart maybe jumps a little in her chest. She purses her lips like she’s working on something mean to say to Rachel, but it’s like she can’t come up with anything with the girl’s hands on her like that.

“Hey, Miss July!” Chelsea shouts from somewhere behind them, shattering the moment and making both of them jump a little, “The flower people are here!”

“Ooh, _mistletoe_!” Rachel singsongs, hands slipping from Cassie’s shoulders as she heads in the direction of the hall entrance. Cassie shakes herself, mentally and physically, before turning around and marching after Rachel.

* * *

“It looks…” Cassie rubs her chin, surveying the room. It’s 4PM, they’ve been there for over five hours, and she's tired. The sun is setting, orange-gold streams through the windows so the whole room is warm and sparkling with thousands of tiny white lights. Light bounces off the silver surface of the menorah, briefly illuminates the dark bulbs in the kinara, and sets every strand of tinsel on fire so the room looks alive with dancing light. She would say magical, but the word isn’t in her vocabulary, so she taps her lips and tilts her head, looking for something to critique.

“It looks magical,” Rachel breathes, coming up beside Cassie with this blinding smile. “Really, _really_ magical.”

“Ugh.” Cassie rolls her eyes and drops her hands to her side. “Whatever. At least it’s done.”

“Oh come on,” Rachel bumps her playfully, making Cassie scowl. “Last year wasn’t nearly this pretty.”

“Well,” she sniffs, “the right person was in charge. For once.” Rachel just hums her agreement and gazes around the dining hall. A few students are milling around, waiting for dinner to be served, a few are admiring the tree set in between the windows.

“ _Oh_!” Rachel gasps.

“What?” Cassie says, trying her best to sound bored. She turns to look at Rachel, but before she can actually see her, Rachel’s mouth is pressed to her own. Her hands are gently gripping Cassie’s elbows, holding her in place because she very well could run away.

It only lasts for a moment. Cassie smells like her perfume, something warm and spicy, laced with the fake pine scent of the tree. Rachel flexes her fingers against Cassie's elbows and feels butterflies spread out through her veins. Rachel’s lips are soft and taste like peppermint and there’s silver ornament glitter dusting her skin and caught in her eyelashes. It's a flash in the pan sort of thing, where Rachel’s lips are pressed to Cassie’s and Cassie’s brain doesn’t know what else to do other than memorise the way Rachel's mouth feels against her own as she kisses her back. Rachel’s eyes are closed tight and the light sparkles off of the glitter on her skin, and Cassie wishes she’d closed her eyes because she suddenly feels very dizzy.

“Wh-” Cassie breathes out once Rachel pulls away, this shy smile on her face that could still put the sun to shame. Cassie’s ears are on fire and she feels her cheeks starting to burn, too. She just prays her tan is still dark enough to hide most of that embarrassment. Cassie realises she must look horrified because Rachel’s face settles into this startled look and she lets out this awful, nervous laugh.

“Mistletoe,” she says, still laughing and motioning above their heads were mistletoe is, in fact, dangling like an innocent bystander from the doorway. She squeezes Cassie’s elbow, bringing her attention back to the moment, while trying to keep from screaming. “I’ll uh, see you in advanced dance on Monday!” She says, voice trembling, already hurrying away before Cassie can do anything like, say, kill her.

Cassie exhales once Rachel is out of earshot, glancing back at the dining room to see if anyone noticed the kiss. No one is even paying attention, of course, and she should feel utterly relieved. Instead, everything is tingling and her mind is reeling and she would very much like a drink. She looks back up at the offending sprig of green leaves and white berries and wonders if the weird tingling is that whole holiday cheer thing Rachel was talking about.

She thinks, perhaps, she should go after Rachel and find out.

 

 


End file.
